The Future Of Less Work Becoming The Manager Your People Need You To Be with Sabina Nawaz
What if pressure—not power—is what derails managers? And what if the key to great leadership isn’t more tools or authority, but a willingness to change yourself before trying to change others?
In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Sabina Nawaz, global executive coach and author of You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need), to explore the invisible forces that make or break managers.
Drawing on over 12,000 pages of 360° feedback from executives at Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and more, Sabina reveals why promotions are often the most dangerous moments in a manager’s career—and how the very traits that
got you the role can backfire if left unchecked. Together, they unpack the pressure-pitfalls and power-gaps that derail even the most well-meaning leaders, and the simple, evidence-based strategies that can help you avoid them.
You’ll learn about the Time Portfolio, the Yes List, the 10-Second Pause, and other practical tools to lead with clarity, trust, and intention. Sabina shares how to communicate your leadership “operating system,” how to delegate without disaster, and how to stop reacting and start reflecting—even if it’s just for 10 seconds a day.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the demands of leadership, unsure how to manage in an AI-disrupted world, or worried that being helpful might make you a micromanager—this conversation is for you.
Guest Information:
Sabina Nawaz is the author of YOU’RE THE BOSS: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need) and an elite executive coach who advises C-level executives and teams at
Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, nonprofits, and academic institutions around the world. During her fourteen-year tenure at Microsoft, she went from managing software development teams to leading the company’s
executive development and succession planning efforts for over 11,000 managers and nearly a thousand executives, advising Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer directly. She has written for and been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, NBC, Nasdaq, and MarketWatch.
Chapters:
00:00 – Why managers fail under pressure
01:40 – The question that predicts leadership success
03:00 – Why promotions are the most dangerous moment
05:30 – When strengths turn into weaknesses
08:45 – How to stop being misunderstood as a leader
10:30 – Power isolates you from your impact
11:40 – Can AI make management harder?
13:10 – Why busyness is a trap, not a badge
13:55 – The Blank Space technique for overwhelmed managers
17:20 – Micro habits that actually work
18:45 – The “Yes List” and how to use it
19:55 – What is a Time Portfolio?
21:45 – Are you spending time on the right things?
22:45 – One habit that separates great managers
24:20 – 10 seconds that can change your day
25:00 – From positional leadership to co-creation
26:00 – The sole provider trap
27:00 – How to delegate without disaster
28:45 – A five-step delegation dial
29:30 – The question every manager should ask themselves